MINSK, 3 November (BelTA) – We have produced an experimental batch of its vaccine against COVID-19, Deputy Director for Research of the National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Candidate of Medical Sciences, Associate Professor Alina Dronina told reporters, BelTA has learned.
"Our institution together with the Institute of Biophysics at the Academy of Sciences has been busy developing a prototype, a candidate version of an inactivated vaccine against coronavirus infection. We have already produced an experimental batch. The preliminary data says that this preparation is safe and immunogenic," Alina Dronina said.
"We will finish developing the lab regulations by the end of the year. This is part of our scientific work. Next year we will transfer the technology to the manufacturer, who will then devise the production technology and manufacture a pilot batch of the vaccine," the deputy director noted. Then goes the registration stage, after which the vaccine will be approved for use, she said.
A reminder, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko signed a decree to implement an investment project to produce Belarus' own COVID-19 vaccine on the premises of the BelVitunipharm company in 2021-2023. This investment project provides for the construction of a vaccine production plant in the village of Dolzha, Vitebsk Oblast (with the upgrade of the existing production facility). The BelVitunipharm premises were chosen by the government, because the company has the necessary infrastructure and competencies to produce a vaccine. In addition to that, it is a promising site to develop a biotechnological cluster.
